In the way you least expect it
by MadLiz
Summary: The Death Eaters are hiding out somewhere in Hogwarts, but no one else believes it. Dumbledore's Army are the only ones who can try to stop them, but how will Harry cope if someone close to him is bitten by a werewolf?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! So, this is my first FanFiction! I'm very excited! It is set in Harry's 6th year, and I know right now it may seem very similar to Half Blood Prince but the storyline changes, I swear! Reviews are very welcome!**  
><strong>Also, I will try to update weekly. Feel free to nag me if I don't and you really want me to!<strong>  
><strong>DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling. <strong>

Chapter One

Harry sat on the edge of his four poster bed gripping his untidy black hair tightly in his hands, Marauders Map on his lap. The boy's dormitory was empty, most of the sixth years out enjoying the warm Saturday morning. Harry, however, couldn't stop staring at the map, at the precise spot where one Draco Malfoy had just disappeared.

It made no sense, Harry thought angrily. He had been watching Malfoy walk through a crowded corridor on the first floor when suddenly he had disappeared- just like that! There was no way he could have apparated, and an invisibility cloak didn't hide you from the map… in fact, nothing Harry could think of did. Sighing in frustration, Harry lifted his head out of his hands, pulling his glasses off to rub his eyes as he did so. All this worrying about Malfoy's suspicious Death Eater activity was driving him crazy, even more so when Hermione and Ron wouldn't listen to him. It had been two months since they had seen Malfoy creeping around Knockturn Alley, and after the first few weeks Hermione and Ron had gotten sick of hearing about it. Harry had since then learnt not to bring it up, but every spare moment when he was able to check the map he had been worrying about it, yet still wasn't able to figure it out.

Hearing heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, Harry rushed over to his trunk to stuff the Marauders Map out of sight. Whirling around, he found Ron standing in the doorway in his Quidditch robes, a knowing look in his eyes.

"C'mon mate, are you the captain of this team or what?" Ron asked. "You are the one who set this Quidditch practice, yes?"

"Er, yeah, sorry," said Harry awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "I'll meet you out there in five, get the team to run through the normal warm up drills for me."

Ron nodded once at him before hauling his broom over his shoulder and walking down the spiral staircase. Harry pulled his Quidditch robes on, hopping around trying to pull his shoes on at the same time before grabbing his Firebolt and dashing down into the common room. He had been late to enough practices due to watching Malfoy, he couldn't let it happen again.

Panting, Harry reached the Quidditch pitch where his team were expertly doing the warm ups Harry had taught them in their first week of practices.

"Sorry… guys…" Harry panted, struggling to get enough breath into his lungs to speak. "Got… distracted…" He heard a laugh from Ron and a snort from someone else.

"It's alright Harry, we're not McGonagall, we won't give you detention," Ginny jokingly called out.

Chuckling to himself, Harry launched himself into the air and did a couple of laps before he caught his breath again and screeched to a halt in front of his team.

"Alright guys, next week's the big match against Slytherin," he called out. "If we fly half as well as what you guys were just doing we'll have 'em hammered." There were a few cheers from the team. "I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but we just have to go over a few more moves which will help our odds just that little bit extra." After a collective groan from everyone, they began to carefully watch. By the end of the practice, they all had the moves down perfectly, like they had been doing them for years. Harry grinned and thought that he had never seen the team in better shape, and told them so as the landed on the pitch and finished up.  
>"That was great everyone," he said. "Slytherin's got absolutely no chance next week. To be honest, that may be the best you guys have flown so far." A few people grinned and hi-fived the person next to them. "Just keep flying like that until next week, and I'll see you all at practice on Monday."<p>

The team dispersed and Harry walked over to Ron.

"You're doing a great job, Harry," Ron said appreciatively, clapping Harry on the back. "Although I think some of the team were only flying so well because they were showing off for your little fan club up there." He gestured up to the raised seats, where a rather large group of 5th year girls were sitting, taking furtive glances towards Harry when they thought he wasn't looking. Apparently the 'Chosen One' rumours were still flying around like some sort of infectious disease.

"Dammit," Harry muttered under his breath. "C'mon, before they attack us or something."

Walking back up through the castle towards the Great Hall, Harry could see most people from the grounds walking back up to the castle for lunch. One tall figure, however, stood out as they walked towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry frowned. That certainly wasn't Hagrid, but who else would be going into the Forbidden Forest right at lunchtime on a Saturday?

"Hey, Ron," Harry said, dragging Ron over to the window. "Who d'you reckon that is?"

Ron squinted out towards the figure before shrugging his shoulders at Harry. "I dunno, but I'm starving. Let's just get some lunch." Ron lead the way into the Great Hall, leaving Harry no choice but to reluctantly follow behind him.

In the Great Hall, Harry and Ron found Hermione sitting alone, distinguishable only from the mass of bushy hair sticking out above the morning's copy of the Daily Prophet she had her nose buried in. Sitting down in front of her, Harry read the headline as he piled roast chicken onto his plate.

"Death Eater activity unusually low; Ministry warns people to be extra wary," he read out loud. Immediately his eyes flicked across to the Slytherin table, where he found Crabbe and Goyle looking particularly out of place without Malfoy by their side.

"Speaking of Death Eaters," Harry said casually, "Where do you think Malfoy's gotten to?"

Hermione said nothing but rustled her papers, while Ron just shook his head and stuffed more chicken into his mouth. "Honestly, 'Arry, 'oo need to 'ove on," he said before taking a great big swallow. "You've been thinking about this for months, and you've found nothing."

Harry just stared at his food, tapping his knife on his plate in frustration. Noticing his silence, Ron simply shrugged and went back to eating. Harry ate a few pieces of chicken before losing his appetite.

"I'm going back up to the Common Room, gotta start on that essay Snape gave us," he said.

Ron groaned. "That's gonna take me a million years! That bastard, he thinks if he gives us more homework we won't be able to beat Slytherin next week."  
>Harry simply shrugged. "Anyway, see you guys later." Ron gave a nod while Hermione just lifted a hand, not taking her eyes off her paper.<p>

Later that night, long after everyone aside from him, Ron and Hermione were asleep, Harry got up off the comfy armchair in front of the fireplace. Having just finished his homework, Harry was over at the window, getting some fresh air into his face when he noticed the cloaked figure he had seen earlier that day walk back out of the forest.  
>Harry watched the figure's familiar walk, trying to pinpoint who it could be, when all of a sudden a streak of light from one of the castle's windows illuminated the mystery person's hair.<p>

All of a sudden, Harry knew exactly who it was. But what on earth was Draco Malfoy doing out in the middle of the night alone, and what sort of business would require he spend the entire afternoon _and_ night in the Forbidden Forest?


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Two

The next morning, Harry told Ron and Hermione all about what he had seen the night before. When he finished, he was sure they would take his side. However, he was thoroughly surprised when Ron simply looked at him sceptically and Hermione sighed at him.

"Harry," she began, "you don't know for sure that was Malfoy."

"Hermione, believe me, you would've thought it was him had you seen it!" Harry insisted. Why were they so determined not to believe him?

"Okay, let's just say it was him then," Hermione continued. "There are a million things he could have been doing in the Forbidden Forest. He could have been looking at some magical creature or going for a walk."

"That doesn't explain the cloak!" Harry said.

"Well, he probably knows he's not supposed to be in the Forest doesn't he?" Hermione argued back.

"Actually, I will admit, that's pretty suss," Ron said, a thoughtful frown on his face. "I mean, since when has Malfoy been interested in the forest? In fact, last time I checked he was terrified of it. I can't imagine him going in alone." Harry gestured towards Ron and sat back in his chair, looking triumphantly at Hermione.

"Look, I can't talk about this now," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I have to get to the library. I'll see you later." She got up and walked out, leaving Harry and Ron alone.

Ron laughed under his breath. "Always in the library."

But Harry was determined to have at least one of his best friends on his side. "Ron, you said you think it's fishy, the way Malfoy's been acting. Can you at least help me check out what he's doing?"

Ron looked at Harry thoughtfully for a moment before caving in. "Fine, I'll help you. I mean, anything to get under Malfoy's skin, right?"

Harry grinned at him. "So, we'll just have to watch him carefully, and if he keeps going into the forest we'll follow him."

Ron looked as if he wasn't sure he entirely wanted to do this, but simply nodded at Harry in resignation.

"Great," said Harry. "Let's start tomorrow."

Tomorrow, however, didn't seem to be the best day. Nor did the next. Or the one after that. Before Harry knew it, it was the Saturday of the Quidditch match and he was no closer to finding out what Malfoy was doing than he was a week ago.

In the change rooms before the match, Harry paced in front of his team in his scarlet robes, trying his best to think of a good speech to wind them all up. After several unsuccessful minutes, Harry gave up.

"Okay team," he started. "I can't think of anything so I'll just remind you about what we've got. We've got ten times the talent Slytherin has, we've got five times the determination and let's face it, our team's just bloody awesome." Harry grinned out at the team as the change rooms filled with whoops. "But anyway, enough mushy stuff. Let's get out there and just try your hardest, guys."

Leading his team out to the pitch, Harry looked up at the stands and saw three quarters of the crowd holding banners supporting Gryffindor. Harry greeted the Slytherin team with a smile he knew must have looked ridiculously cheesy, but the anticipation of a Quidditch match was making him excitedly jittery. After having half the fingers in his right hand crushed to pieces, Madam Hooch blew the whistle to signal the start of the match.

Up in the air, Harry did a whole lot of speeding around, the Slytherin seeker on his tail, before slowing down to start looking for the snitch. Glancing around him, Harry suddenly realised that Malfoy wasn't playing for the Slytherin team today. Their seeker was just a stand in. Harry suspiciously looked around the stands towards where the Slytherins stood cheering. With a jolt of recognition, he saw a tall figure in the very same cloak as he had seen last week, which meant it must have been Malfoy. But since when had Malfoy let the Slytherins play without him? Harry watched Malfoy walk slowly through the crowd, until he disappeared behind a gang of cheering Slytherins.

"30-0 to Gryffindor!" the commentator yelled out, bringing Harry back to reality. Harry shook his head and went back to searching for the snitch. That was the most important thing right now.

Five minutes later, the score was 60-10 to Gryffindor and Harry was getting restless. He was trying his very hardest to find the snitch so he could get out to follow Malfoy, but any longer and he'd miss his chance. All of a sudden, he saw the Slytherin seeker go into a great dive, making the watching crowd gasp excitedly. At the exact same moment, Harry saw a glint of gold on the other end of the pitch. Smirking at the Slytherin seeker's stupidity, Harry pulled his own broom down effortlessly in the opposite direction. 10 seconds later, he flew upwards, the snitch fluttering desperately in his sweaty hand. Quickly pulling to a halt on the ground, Harry grinned around at his team as the commentator yelled out, "Potter caught the snitch, leading Gryffindor to victory on 210 points to 10!"

The team walked towards the castle in a massive huddle, the rest of the Gryffindors leading a chant behind them. Harry caught a glimpse of Ginny across the mob, her face radiant, and he felt the sudden urge to hug her. He frowned at himself. That was just because they were such good friends… right?

Before his thoughts could linger too long on this, Harry saw the familiar black cloaked figure walking in front of him. Looking across at Ron, he saw Ron nod at him.  
>Harry bobbed out of the group and acted as though he was going towards the broom shed. Meeting Ron on the way, Harry pulled his wand out of his sleeve.<br>"Accio cloak," he muttered under his breath, eyes on Malfoy's back. Ron leant over to him.

"Maybe we should get the map, we can see anyone else coming," Ron breathed in his ear. Harry nodded, and reached up to grab the invisibility cloak as it flew towards him. Hiding himself and Ron under it, he lifted his wand again and whispered, "Accio map." Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the map flying towards him- but so did Malfoy. Malfoy turned his head towards the side, about to look over at the map. Harry heard Ron draw a sharp breath. Thinking fast, Harry flicked his wand at a nearby bush and it lit on fire. Malfoy jumped in front of them, swearing under his breath. Harry pushed back a chuckle as he reached out to take the map. Beside him Ron flicked his own wand towards the bush, immediately extinguishing the fire.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Harry muttered, and ink spread across the parchment. Squinting down, Harry found the two tiny sets of footsteps labelled Ron Weasley and Harry Potter heading towards the forbidden forest. Harry looked ahead of their own names where Malfoy's name should have been.

Harry jerked his elbow sharply into Ron's side.

"Ow! Har-"

Harry shushed Ron and pointed towards the spot where they were. "He's not there," Harry whispered urgently. Ron stared at the strangely empty spot on the map, before looking up at the figure which was heading into the dark shade of the forest in front of him. He turned to Harry, who shook his head and shrugged. The map had never failed him before. Harry didn't know what sort of magic this was, but it worried him, and he felt the first twinges of apprehension in his stomach as he followed Malfoy into the depths of the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

**So I have a question. I was wondering what people think of this so far. Are my chapters an alright length? Is my grammar alright? Do you like where the story is going? I'd love to know, so I can work on making this FanFic as good as I can.  
>Thanks to everyone who faved! Please review and let me know of any errors or just some feedback. Cheers!<br>DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.  
><strong>  
>Chapter Three<p>

Harry walked as silently through the forest as he could with Ron beside him and the invisibility cloak over them both. Shoving the map into his pocket, he walked through the increasingly dark gloom. Having never been through this part of the forest, Harry could feel fear growing in his stomach but shoved it aside. He couldn't worry now; there was something serious going on here and Harry had every reason to believe it was Death Eater activity.

After a great deal of time walking, Malfoy steered from the path. Harry could hear Malfoy's breath becoming more rapid as his speed increased. He obviously had to be somewhere, and was it Harry's imagination or was Malfoy's hand gripping his left forearm more than was regular?

Suddenly they came upon a clearing, and instead of following Malfoy into it Harry lead Ron around the clearing, finishing up behind a thick tree where they could safely see everything.

Harry took in his surroundings quickly. A ring of people in black cloaks not unlike Malfoy's sat on the forest floor. However, rather than the stiff demeanour Harry usually saw from Death Eaters, these people were slouched around. Some were even lying on the floor. Before Harry could question his immediate judgement on who these people were, he heard a familiar voice which sent shivers down his spine.

"I'm dying here," said the raspy voice of Fenrir Greyback. "I can't wait until the next full moon…"

"Oh, shut up," came the familiar voice of Lucius Malfoy. Harry heard a growl followed by a sharp bang.

"How irritating," muttered Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry's hands curled up in fists at his sides and he was barely able to stop himself from shaking with rage. He couldn't believe she was here, in the Forbidden Forest. It was all he could do to keep himself focused and stop himself rushing forwards through the trees to hurt any part of her that he could.

Shaking his head, Harry tuned back into what was going on around him. Lucius Malfoy was speaking, by the sounds of it to Draco.

"…And the students?"

"I looked at the list today, only about twenty people are staying total," said Draco.

"Excellent. The Dark Lord will be pleased," said Bellatrix.

"What is his plan exactly?" asked Amycus Carrow resentfully. "How he expects us to go along with this if he doesn't even-"

Bellatrix cut him off with a high-pitched girly cackle. "It's not my problem if you're not important enough," she cried in a sing-song voice which sent shudders down Harry's spine. A low muttering of profanities came from Amycus which Bellatrix brushed off with another laugh.

"And you wonder why the Dark Lord doesn't like you," Bellatrix said rudely.

"If I might interrupt," drawled Lucius, "perhaps we should get started on the next phase of the Dark Lord's plan? Before it's too late?"

"Yes, yes," said Bellatrix quickly. "Come on, up you fools, up!" There was another bang and much groaning as the many Death Eaters were forced up by whatever curse Bellatrix had put on them.

Ron tapped Harry sharply on the shoulder and gestured behind him, his face fearful. Harry shook his head and motioned with his hands that they should wait and follow Malfoy out, as he would most likely be heading up to the school; they didn't know their way back and it was very near being pitch black. Harry wondered how long they had been out as they waited for the Death Eaters to pass by. Most of them headed off in an unknown direction, but Malfoy put his black cloak back on and walked out the way he had come in. Harry and Ron head off silently behind him, or as silently as they could without falling over in the dark.

As they walked, Harry's mind whirred. What was Voldemort's plan? It clearly involved Hogwarts, which made Harry extremely terrified and at a complete loss of what to do. His worry was so much that he half expected the castle to be in flames when they arrived back at it and was surprised yet relieved to see it standing strong. They followed Malfoy up through the great castle doors and took the nearest shortcut to get away from him so they could talk freely.

"What do you think that was?" whispered Ron nervously.

"It sounded like a meeting. We have to get straight to Dumbledore," Harry replied. However, he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, and found himself in a corridor which he couldn't recognise in the darkness.

"Hold on," he replied, pulling out his wand and the Marauders Map. After thoroughly searching it for his and Ron's names, he found them on the fourth floor. "Right, we're outside the library," he murmured, searching the map for the quickest shortcut to Dumbledore's office. Upon a glance at the room, he noticed the tiny footsteps showing Dumbledore were lacking from the room. He cursed under his breath.

"What?" whispered Ron.

"Dumbledore's not in his office," Harry whispered back urgently. "Hang on… he's not anywhere!" He frowned at the map in frustration. Whenever he needed something important…

"Check McGonagall's office," Ron said. Harry scanned the map, but she was nowhere to be found, either.

"What's wrong with this? Why would Dumbledore leave without leaving anyone from the Order here?" Harry groaned.

"Did you check for Snape?" Ron asked.

"No. Just because Dumbledore trusts him, doesn't mean I do," Harry grumbled bitterly. "He was probably there."

"You know what Hermione would be saying," said Ron, grinning in spite of the situation. "He's a teacher, Harry. Besides, he's a member of the Order. He helped them last year, remember?"

Harry had to stop himself from smiling. It was a rather funny impression. "This is no joking matter, Weasley. Why don't we ask Hermione what she thinks. She can't tell us we're wrong now, we've got proof- she'll have to listen!"

Ron nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

"It is very strange," Hermione said seriously. She stared into the fireplace while Ron and Harry waited to see what she thought. "Hang on. You said none of the Order members were here, right Harry?"

"Erm… yes, that's right," replied Harry nervously.

"Including Snape?" Hermione asked sceptically, raising her eyebrows at him.

Harry sighed. "Well, alright, I didn't check for him. But I'm not going to him, he'd probably lau-"

"Harry! You didn't think that if he wasn't here, it could mean that he was involved in what you saw?" Hermione scoffed.

Harry slapped his palm to his forehead. "Of course! One second-" He pulled out the Marauders Map and checked all over the castle. "He's not here!"

Hermione frowned. "Right, okay. So what should we do now?"

"Why don't we send an owl to Dumbledore?" Ron suggested.

"Well, we could…" Hermione said hesitantly. "But what if he's in the middle of something really important? We could get in the way."

"We'll wait 'till morning then," Harry decided. "If he's still not back, we'll owl him. But we should keep an eye out for tonight anyway, just in case. I haven't got a good feeling about this- any of it."

Both Hermione and Ron nodded their agreement.

"Oh- did you figure out how Malfoy was hiding off the map?" Hermione asked suddenly.

Harry shook his head. "No, we followed him after his name disappeared."

"Don't you have a book on it or something, Hermione?" Ron sighed tiredly.

Hermione sat up straight. "Actually, I might. Wait here." She disappeared off to her dormitory.

Ron stared after her, bewildered. "I was being sarcastic…"

Hermione reappeared only seconds later with a few heavy looking books. "While we're keeping an ear out for anything suspicious, we can have a look through these."

Harry sighed and tried to ignore his tiredness as they picked up the books and began a long night of work.


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapter! I'm going to ask the same questions as the last chapter (no responses, awkward): Are my chapters a good length, do you like where the story is going, etc. And a new question: Am I going too slow? Should I speed it up and get to the good stuff? Let me know!  
><strong>**DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Four

A sharp _thwack _on the back of Harry's head caused him to jerk up with a start.

"Wha-?" he stared around him, disoriented, and peeled away the sheet of parchment that had stuck to his cheek. Sun was streaming in through the arched windows of the common room. There were books scattered over the desk he had fallen asleep on, and the sheet that had stuck to his face was filled with Hermione's cramped writing.

"We're going to owl Dumbledore. Get up," said Ron, walking past him out through the portrait hole. Harry grumbled under his breath at Ron, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up and stretched.

He looked up and saw Ginny walk through the portrait hole. All of a sudden, he was extremely aware of how dishevelled he must look. As he was quickly trying to straighten up his clothes and flatten his hair, Ginny called out to him.

"I would hurry if I were you," she said, smiling. "They're looking pretty impatient."

Harry laughed nervously and walked past her, continuing to flatten his hair as he exited the common room. Mentally he kicked himself. _What are you doing? _He thought. _It's just Ginny. You've known her forever. Wake up, idiot._

He must have had a strange expression on his face when he walked out because Hermione looked at him peculiarly when he turned to meet them both.

"Tired are we?" she asked. Harry just grumbled as a response. "Well, we figured since Dumbledore's not back, we'd go write to him."

"How do you know he's not back?" Harry asked. "Shouldn't we check the map?"

"We already did it, while you were snoring," chuckled Ron, handing the now blank map back to him. "None of the Order's back. Even Snape."

Harry frowned. "I was snoring?"

"Loudly," replied Hermione, smiling slightly. "Ginny walked in and thought that Fred and George were trying out some new product." Harry felt his face flushing. Trying to act natural, he quickly changed the subject.

"I didn't find much last night, what about you guys?" he asked. Ron shrugged at him, but Hermione pulled out a sheet of parchment.

"I found a few spells he could be using," she said, looking over the notes. She frowned. "But I seem to be missing a sheet."

Harry ducked his head guiltily. "I may or may not have been sleeping with it stuck to my face." Hermione sighed and walked quickly back into the common room. Moments later she reappeared with the sheet of parchment in her hand.

"Right, we better get moving," she said, and lead the way to the owlery. Harry and Ron followed, Harry trying to keep his thoughts on the task at hand- the most important problem. But somehow his thoughts kept flicking to Ginny, and the cute smile she'd had on her face when she saw him in the common room.

Harry read over the letter they had written before nodding and handing it back to Hermione.

"Send it. We need him to get it as soon as possible." While Hermione walked over to find an inconspicuous looking owl to use, Harry pulled out the map once again from his pocket where he had taken to keeping it. He noticed Malfoy was missing again. Harry groaned and leant his head up against the wall behind him. He had no idea what the Death Eaters were up to, and no idea how to stop them.

"Listen, mate…" Ron started. Harry looked up expecting something about Malfoy or Death Eaters. "I know you're worried, but… that doesn't change the fact that there's bird crap _all_ over that wall."

Harry scrunched up his face and leaned over to shake out his hair while Ron laughed at him.

"What are you doing?" asked Hermione. Harry looked up and saw Hermione looking down at him, nose crinkled at the dandruff-looking substance falling out of his hair.

"Nothing," said Harry quickly. He stood up and started out of the owlery. Ron sniggered and followed him out.

"That's disgusting," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"So, how are we gonna figure out this Malfoy business?" asked Harry. He was assuming Hermione had some form of plan. No surprises, he was correct.

"Well, I was thinking we should go somewhere private and try out the spell. But we don't want anyone to walk in on us, because if word got out to Malfoy that we were onto him we'd be in _deep _trouble."

"We'll just find an empty classroom then and lock the door," said Harry. But Hermione shook her head.

"That can be opened with magic. I think we should go into the forest, maybe just on the edge. We can see anyone coming that way."

"I'm with Hermione," said Ron. "Let's go."

"None of these are _working_," moaned Ron, his head in his hands.

"It's alright, we've only got a few more on the list, we can keep going," said Hermione.

Harry sighed. He knew they had to keep going, but his lack of sleep was catching up with him, here in the quiet forest. He found himself nodding off against the tree...

"Here," said Hermione. "Get up, Ron." Ron dramatically got up and heaved himself towards Hermione. Hermione muttered a spell under her breath. "Check the map, Harry."

Harry looked down at where the map was sitting on his lap and checked their spot on the edge of the forest. "Nope. Ron's still here."

Hermione let out a frustrated groan. "All right. Next one."

An hour later, Hermione finally gave up.

"We've tried every spell I found," she cried as they walked back up to the castle. "I was _sure_ we'd find it."

"_I_ was sure you'd find it too, Hermione," said Ron. "You're losing your touch."

Hermione scowled at him. "Shut up. I'm sure it's _somewher_e_; _I mean, he's only a student, too. I can't see the Death Eaters helping him figure this out. They don't seem to have much respect for him."

"Guess where we get to go guys," said Harry in a monotonous sing song voice.

Ron groaned. "Library. I swear to God, if this turns out to be a false alarm..."

Harry shook his head. "I don't think it will. I have a bit of a bad feeling about all this."

Hermione and Ron exchanged worried glances.

In the library, with piles upon piles of books in front of them, they were interrupted by Ginny walking in.

"Hey, guys," she said. Harry cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair nervously. Again, he had to force himself to act normally. _Why _was he acting like this? _Stop it, Harry,_ he scolded himself mentally. _It's just Ginny. It's just-  
><em>  
>"Can I talk to you for a sec Harry?"<p>

_Crap.  
><em>  
>Harry looked quickly up at Ginny. "Uh, yeah sure." He cleared his throat again and followed her into an empty part of the library.<p>

Ginny halted in front of him and turned around, arms folded. Her expression was a mix between the one Mrs Weasley got when she wanted to know something and concern.

"You guys are worried." It was a statement, not a question. "What's happening?"

Harry looked down at her and tried to feign indifference. "Nothing. We're just stressed about… um… homework."

Ginny raised her eyebrows at him and Harry rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging. "Right. My brother, stressed about homework before Christmas? Seriously, tell me Harry." Her expression softened. "I'm worried about you. You guys. I'm worried about you guys." She coughed.

Now it was Harry's turn to raise his eyebrows. Was it just him, or had Ginny just gotten nervous? And said she was worried about him? Pushing back a smile, Harry got back to the point of the conversation.

"It's nothing big. Just a little issue. Nothing you need to worry yourself about. Really." He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Is _that _why you sent a letter to Dumbledore? Disappeared after the Quidditch match? Ran off to the forest this morning?" Harry let out a great sigh. "You're not the only one who can be observant, you know," she said.

"Alright," Harry said, giving in. "I'll tell you. Ron and Hermione might kill me…" he shook his head. "If they do, I'm blaming you."

Ginny nodded.

"Well, we followed Malfoy the other day into the forest…" he glanced around, making sure no one was nearby. Lowering his voice, he continued. "He met up with Death Eaters, hiding out in the Forbidden Forest. We think they're going to attack the school."


	5. Chapter 5

**Howdy! Just wanted to say thanks to my one and only reader at the moment, PrincessRedfern, for her wonderful reviews and advice! Thanks, bro :D And enjoy the chapter!  
><strong>**DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and anything related to Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Five

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sat in a tight circle in an empty classroom. Harry strongly suspected Ginny was going to a bit of shock over the story they-well, him and Ron- had just told her. But whatever she was feeling, she didn't show it. She looked up from where she had been staring stonily at her shoes and glared fiercely into Harry's eyes.

"Well, what do we do now?" she asked.

"_We_ are doing nothing," said Ron. "Harry, Hermione and I are going to try and notify the Order, or figure something else out. _You _are not going to get involved. Mum would kill me if I let you get involved."

"So I'm just expected to sit around?" scoffed Ginny. "Yeah right, Ron."

"I suppose she's right, Ron," said Hermione. "I mean, you would want the same as her if the situation was reversed. But we probably won't have to do anything, as soon as we contact the Order-"

"Actually, Hermione," said Harry frowning, "I'm starting to think if the Order's not back by tomorrow, or if we haven't heard from Dumbledore, we're going to have to do something ourselves."

There was a stiff silence at his words as they all realised the importance of what might be going on around them and wondered yet again at where the Order were.

"Excuse me," said a soft polite voice. Everyone swivelled around to see Luna Lovegood standing behind them. "I was researching the Gurcklack when I overheard a bit of your conversation. Am I right to believe that Hogwarts is completely lacking in members of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Had the situation been less serious, Harry may well have burst out laughing at the mention of the word Gurcklack. However, he was more worried about the fact that people could hear their conversation.

"I didn't realise we were talking so loud," he said, frowning.

"Oh, you weren't," Luna said. "I've been drinking a potion my dad gave me and it increases your hearing dramatically."

Harry nodded, trying to act as though he believed her. "Right. Well, anyway, yeah, all the members of the Order are gone. We've tried contacting Dumbledore but-"

"Oh no, you won't get a reply from him any time soon," Luna said as though it were obvious. "I heard him rush off and say something about a Death Eater attack somewhere way up north, apparently it was a job for the Order of the Phoenix especially."

Harry was gobsmacked. "But-how could he leave the school without _any _members of the Order here?"

"There may not be any on the grounds, but I also heard him say to McGonagall that there were some members of the Order stationed outside the grounds," Luna replied.

"Harry," said Hermione eagerly. Harry turned to her. "I don't think we'll be able to contact them from inside the school, but what about that method of contact using the Patronus charm? We could send that out, couldn't we?"

"Yeah, but do you know how to do that?" Harry asked sceptically.

"Well, no," Hermione admitted. "But the theory's simple enou-"

"Or we could just send an owl out there," Ron replied. The 'duh' was implied.  
>Hermione blushed. "Yeah, okay, or that."<p>

Ron shook his head. "Always overthinking things, Hermione."

"Okay, well do you think we can get down to the owlery anytime soon?" Harry asked.

"Let's go now," said Hermione. She looked at Ginny and Luna. "Sorry, guys, but I don't know how many will fit under Harry's cloak."

"It's no worries, Luna and I will keep lookout in the castle," Ginny said. "Just… be careful, guys. You don't know what's out there anymore."

Harry nodded at her. "Here," he said. "Take the map, you can see if Filch or anyone's coming."

"Thanks," said Ginny appreciatively, taking the map as he handed it to her. "Let's go, Luna, I'll catch you up while we walk." Her and Luna set off quietly, Ginny looking back with a worried expression on her face as they left.

"Here, get under here, guys," Harry muttered. They disappeared under the cloak and set off through the castle which was now dark, leaving their belongings on the table. They could collect them from Madam Pince tomorrow.

Walking through the shadowed castle, Harry found his thoughts drifting to Ginny. He was starting to realise he had more than brotherly feelings for her, like he kept telling himself he did, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. She was his best friend's sister. If anything happened, Ron would probably hit him several times. In the nose. With a brick or two. _Hard.  
><em>  
>They came to the front doors and were surprised to find them unlocked. Harry didn't see this as a good sign, but he tried to squash the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. From what Malfoy had said, it looked like they were planning to do whatever it was around Christmas, which wasn't for another two weeks.<p>

At the Owlery, they had to search long and hard to spot an owl which would blend in in the darkness. Finally they found a small, completely black owl, hiding in the shadows. Harry quickly scrawled a note, tied it to the owl's leg and told the owl to go find whoever it could outside the gate. He was just worried about who it might find; he didn't know how to tell an owl how to distinguish between Death Eaters and members of the Order.

As they walked down the stairs from the owlery for the second time that day, Harry saw yet again the shape of a hooded figure, barely noticeably against the dark forest.

"Guys," he hissed through the darkness. "It's Malfoy!"

"There must be another meeting," Hermione breathed. The three of them met eyes for just a second and Harry could tell they all agreed to go in after him.

Taking off at a run, they followed Malfoy as fast as they could without making any noise under the cloak. It wasn't until they were about a hundred metres away from him that they were finally able to catch their breath.

Again they made the long trip through the forest, but this time there was more of a sense of urgency about it. Malfoy must have been in a rush too, because the trip seemed to take next to no time.

This time, harry lead Hermione and Ron to the entrance of the clearing, rather than behind a tree. From here they could see everything that was going on.

Inside the clearing there was probably a few more Death Eaters than last time. Harry saw some he recognised, like Bellatrix, Lucius and Fenrir, and others he didn't. Most, however, had their faces covered in a mask. Harry noticed that Fenrir had not been graced with this 'privilege', and felt a strong desire to laugh at him.

Malfoy walked straight over to his father, and Harry noticed that his mother was there as well, hiding in the shadows. Harry could tell she was one person who most definitely did _not _want to be there.

Another thing Harry noticed was that there was a more official air about the group, like the extra people had been called there for a reason. He could feel impatience, as if they all wanted to get whatever was happening over and done with.

"Listen up, you worthless people," Bellatrix called over the dim chatter. "It's time for you all to finally learn what you're here for."

"About bloody time," one of the Carrows muttered. It was quite a worrying thing that Harry couldn't tell if the voice was male or female, as they both sounded so deep. Bellatrix silenced him with a flick of her wand, although Harry personally thought the glare she was sending him would have done the trick.

"It is not up to me to decide when the Dark Lord chooses to divulge information to you," Bellatrix said, "although I must say I have been enjoying having something to hold over all of your dim-witted heads."

"Now, the reason we are hiding out here. As some of you may already know, the Dark Lord wishes to kill some people at this school," continued Bellatrix, grinning maliciously. "In particular, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter."

Harry felt Hermione and Ron glance at him, but ignored them. It wasn't exactly like it was news to him that Voldemort had it in for him. It _was _news to him, however, that Voldemort was plotting to kill Dumbledore. Harry felt as if a weight had dropped in his stomach.

"Now, Draco here has kindly allowed us to hide out here in the grounds, until Christmas Eve, when we will attack the school."

"Why are we waiting?" someone called out. "I mean, we're here already aren't we?"

"Yes, you idiot, but the Dark Lord has his reasons for waiting," Bellatrix cried. "For example, he wants less people in the way so it is easier for him to kill Dumbledore."

"But _why_?" cried the same voice, sounding exasperated. Harry could tell by Bellatrix's laboured breathing that she was beginning to get fed up. "Won't it be easier to kill him if he's distracted by protecting the students?"

"Do not _question _the Dark Lord's judgement!" Bellatrix shouted manically. "If you must know, the Dark Lord plans to take over the school, which will by _far _be easier if there are less children there, and far less noticeable if there are less children to send stupid little owls blabbing to their parents! That way, we can have new security and rules in place and ready for the children when they return from their summer holidays, completely unsuspecting! _Do I make myself clear_?_"_

The man stayed silent. Harry wondered what Voldemort must have been thinking to leave a psycho like her in charge. He half expected her to start sending the killing curse at each and every Death Eater there.

"Much better," cackled Bellatrix. "Draco here has some ne-"

"But why are we here _now?_" asked another voice. "Why not arrive the day before?" Several people murmured in agreement.

"Over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, we will be slowly infiltrating the school, positioning ourselves throughout the castle so that when those stupid little children are gone it will be a simple are easy process to destroy Dumbledore!" Bellatrix was sounding particularly impatient now. "Plus, the Dark Lord most likely wants you out of his hair, and I most definitely understand why!"

"As I was saying," continued Bellatrix, "Draco, your news."

Malfoy stood up and looked around him. The terror was plain on his face, and Harry could see most of the other Death Eaters sneering at him.

"All members of the Order of the Phoenix are out of the castle, on a set up job with the remaining Death Eaters who aren't here," Malfoy said, his voice trembling. "We can start entering the castle as soon as tomorrow."

Bellatrix smiled, a slow crazy one. "Wonderful!" she screamed. Harry wondered if anyone up at the school could hear the noise she was making. "Well, I think that is all for tonight! Have fun sleeping, peabrains!"

Draco quickly exited the clearing. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed him silently, all of them turning over everything they had just heard in their minds.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Harry saw the owl they had sent to the Order members fluttering around looking for them. They stopped behind the shade of a tree and, making sure Malfoy wasn't looking, Harry slipped out of the cloak. The owl immediately spotted him and flew over. As soon as it reached him, Harry pulled the letter off its feet and checked it. There was no sign that anyone had seen it and there was definitely no response. The owl hooted apologetically at Harry.

"It didn't reach anyone," Harry said quietly. He turned to where he knew Ron and Hermione were standing. "Why didn't it reach anyone?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Sorry to anyone who's following this story, I haven't updated in forever. Exams :( But anyway, here's the next chapter. Things are getting a little more interesting :)**

**DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Six

Back up at the castle, they met up with Ginny and Luna, who joined them under the cloak. They all ignored the fact that their feet were sticking out and focused on getting to the seventh floor as soon as possible. However, instead of going to the Gryffindor common room they went to the Room of Requirement where they could talk freely without interruption.

Harry paced the room which looked much the same as he knew it to, but with different books and more chairs. Everyone else was sitting in the comfortable armchairs, staring at Harry as though waiting for him to tell them something, or give them a plan. He felt a strong sense of déjà vu, as though he was back in fifth year again, teaching Dumbledore's Army.

He had no idea where to start thinking. Death Eaters would be in the castle as soon as tomorrow, not a single member of the Order was in the castle and the Aurors outside the grounds were gone, apparently. Harry ran a hand roughly through his hair and looked up at everyone. Hermione was staring over at the books, her head tilted to read the spines. Ron was staring at the floor, Luna at the ceiling, and Ginny… Ginny had concern all over her face as she stared at Harry. Harry was very near to rushing over and just holding her, but he knew it wasn't the time. Not with Ron there. Not yet.

Hermione suddenly spun around, as if jolted back to reality by a noise. "We need Dumbledore's Army."

Harry stared at her.

"Think about it," she said loudly. "There's no Order members. There's no Aurors outside. We're the only ones who know!" She looked close to tears.

"But, we don't want them to get themselves hu-" Harry started.

"Think," Hermione said again, more softly this time. "If we don't get more people to help, the whole school will be in danger. People could-" she stopped to clear her throat. "People could die. We don't know that they're actually going to wait. They could start killing people as soon as tomorrow morning, with Dumbledore out of the way. It wouldn't be that hard to distract all the rest of the teachers."

"But how are we going to get to everyone before tomorrow?" asked Ginny quietly, looking away from Harry for the first time. Harry was sort of glad, he had been starting to get self-conscious.

Hermione sighed. "I don't know."

Harry groaned and sunk to the floor, putting his head in his hands. "We need the Order! We can't do this ourselves! It's near impossible."

Luna looked down from where she had been staring, transfixed, at the ceiling. "I've got an idea," she said. "Let's get everyone we can, tonight, who knows how to fight, and go to where the Death Eaters are hiding. If we catch them by surprise, we might frighten them off."

Hermione shook her head. "I doubt that would work, Luna. I mean, Death Eaters are strong. We need the Order to be able to fight them."

"You'd be surprised at what the rest of the teachers can do," she said. "Not that there's many left."

Harry frowned. "Well, if a majority of the teachers are gone, who's going to teach this week? There's still one week left before school ends!"

Everyone stopped for a minute. What was going on?

"Well, that means everyone must be coming back tomorrow," said Hermione. "I mean, imagine what would happen if no teachers showed up?"

Harry nodded. "I just don't know what to do if we don't get a reply from Dumbledore."

Almost as if on cue, there was a sharp rapping at one of the windows of the Room. Ron, who Harry realised had been extremely quiet all night, got up and helped it in.

"I didn't realise these windows were visible to the outside of the castle," said Hermione in surprise.

"It's one of the benefits of the room, I suppose," said Luna.

Ron quickly got the letter off the owl's leg. The owl hurriedly flew outside.

"Yeah, it's Dumbledore," he said hoarsely. "It says, 'The Order and I are returning immediately. Don't take any action. Meet me at my office as soon as you receive this.'"

Without a word, they all set out under the Invisibility Cloak to go see Dumbledore.

The had only been standing outside the stone gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office for five minutes when they saw him walking up the corridor. Harry pulled the Cloak off all of them as he approached. Dumbledore didn't seem surprised in the slightest at their sudden appearance, instead gesturing for them to follow after giving the gargoyle the password ('toffee eclairs').

Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and conjured up five chairs for them. He waited for them all to be seated before speaking.

"You were rather vague in your letter, so I ask that you might inform me of what you've seen," he said, leaning back in his chair. Harry felt everyone's eyes on him, so took a deep breath and started to speak.

"… and we tried to contact the Aurors last night, but they're gone sir. Not one reply," finished Harry after a good ten minutes of talking.

"Interesting," murmured Dumbledore distractedly, staring at Harry as though not really seeing him at all. "Death Eaters in the grounds… that is quite a problem, isn't it?" he looked around at them all. "I am glad you haven't done anything yet, because I will need you all to stay out of the way. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to speak to someone…" he stood up and wandered off in the direction of the fireplace.

Harry exchanged glanced with the others. He though Dumbledore was acting a little strange, very unlike himself. He was struck with a sudden idea, and turned away, pulling the map out of his pocket. He found where they were standing and looked at where Dumbledore's name should've been. Instead, he saw an unfamiliar name, one he had never seen in his life. Throwing the map on the floor, he spun around, drawing his wand as he did so. It seemed the others had taken notice of what he was doing, or they had come to the same conclusion as him, for when he yelled, "Stupefy!" there were four other voices saying it with him.

Harry slowly approached the man, wand outstretched.

"I really hope that wasn't Dumbledore," said Ginny with a nervous laugh.

Harry shook his head. "It wasn't." He backed away and found himself next to Ginny. Try as she might to hide it, he could tell she was extremely freaked out, and he put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his chest, letting a deep breath out. Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry, but said nothing.

"Do you know how to get rid of his disguise?" asked Luna, her wand still raised. Harry had a feeling it wasn't for security, but she had simply forgotten she held it up.

"I do," said Hermione. But as she approached the man, she stopped. "But I don't think I have to. Looks like he was just about to take another sip of Polyjuice Potion." She gestured to a bottle next to him, which was now oozing a distinctive, sluggish grey liquid. Harry also saw two long, silver hairs in the man's other hand. Before their eyes, they saw the long white hair retract into his head, the man's legs shrink a little and his stomach widen a little. When the transformation was finished, Harry slowly walked forward and knelt down next to the man. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Harry went to flip him over. The unknown Death Eater's eyes were shut, his breathing shallow. Harry leant closer to the man, inspecting him, trying to see any sign of what he had been going to do to them. Suddenly, the man's eyes flicked open. Before Harry could react, large hands were around his throat and the man was leaning in to Harry's face, talking in a deep, hoarse voice.

"I didn't even come here to get you, Potter," the man whispered triumphantly. Harry struggled, but the man only grabbed his throat tighter. His breath was getting short. Harry wondered why no one was coming to help him. "But you know what? I think the Dark Lord will be pleased if I kill you." Harry was starting to get dizzy. "I can make your little friends watch. Watch as I choke the last-"

BANG! Just as Harry felt he was going to pass out, the man's hands loosened as he was forced backwards by the powerful spell that had been shot from behind Harry. Harry scrambled backwards and lay there, gasping for breath as he watched the ceiling come back into focus. He felt small hands pull him into a sitting position, and he sat there as Ginny put her arms around him.

"Are you okay?" she asked desperately. Harry nodded. "I'm sorry, he was doing something without his wand, we couldn't talk, we couldn't move!"

Harry looked around and saw everyone standing around looking extremely frightened. "Well, come on," he said, his voice barely louder than a faint scratching noise. "Let's get him out of here."

"Who is he anyway?" asked Hermione as they pulled the man down the stairs from Dumbledore's office. There was nothing gentle about the way they dragged him, and Harry hoped he would have a great big headache when he woke up.

"I have no idea," said Harry. "I didn't recognise his name."

They shoved the man in a broom cupboard after they had stunned him a second time and put a full body bind curse on him. Harry pocketed his wand as Hermione locked the door with her wand and out a silencing charm around it. Then they stuck a 'DANGER! DO NOT ENTER' sign on the door, so no student would accidently open it.

"Well," Ron said apprehensively as they walked away. "They're in the castle."

Harry sighed. "I think it's up to us now. Obviously something's happened to the Order. Let's go find the rest of the DA."


End file.
